Pokémon Trainer Anime Canon Tier List
I've noticed that when it comes other animes and works, we usually see a tier list on the strength various characters, where there exists debate on who would defeat who, how far are the strength between two characters, and who is among the strongest and weakest characters in the series. I've seen this with shows like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, as well as Marvel and DC comics.
I'd like to see if we can make a similar tier list for Pokémon, and see if we can make a good tier list that accurately reflects the strength of the characters and their Pokémon after some good discussion and debate. Who is the strongest trainer in the anime? Who is the weakest? Where would characters like Ash, Gary, Ritchie, May, Paul, Bianca, and Trevor lie? What about Gym Leaders like Brock, Misty, Jasmine, Norman, Clemont, and Korrina? How about villains like Giovanni or Hunter J? How distant is the strength between, say, BW Ash and XY Ash? Is Cynthia, Tobias, Alain, or someone else at the top? Could the TRio be faltering at the bottom? How would a battle between Serena and a one-shot character like Giselle work out? Where does A.J., a one-shot trainer who claims to have won 100 battles in a row, fit in all this?
Since I haven't watched all of the anime, I can only know so much and thus I haven't attempted to make a tier list on my own. I would suggest however that we divide them in classes using letters like S, A, B, C, etc. which may or may not be further divided into classes like A+, A, and A-.
Here are some other few guidelines and factors:
-Assume a neutral field, without obstacles or advantages.
-Whenever possible, go for 6v6 matches; otherwise go with the maximum number possible.
-You can differentiate trainers on both the time they were in as well as their hypothetical strongest, consisting of their best Pokémon. For example, you can place both Kanto Gary and Johto Gary in the tier list.
-Writing absolutely every character down is not necessary (this tier list would simply be too much if we tried that), but it would be nice if we wrote those whom we've seen a significant amount of battling into the list.
-I am unsure if the movies should be factored in; if we do so, I would prefer to make anyone affected by them separate from how they would fare without the movies.
-Preferably I would not add Red from Pokémon Origins into the list, but maybe you can change my mind here.
-Keep in mind about type advantages and disadvantages. If you think, for instance, that Valerie should be placed in a higher tier than Lance, do so because you believe she is legitimately a stronger trainer and would fare better than him against other trainers, not simply because she would defeat him directly thanks to the Fairy-type vs Dragon-type situation.
-The luck factor does exist, so put that into play as well.
If anyone else has questions or suggestions, please let me know. I hope to have a good enjoyable discussion as we make this tier list, so let's get started!
I've noticed that when it comes other animes and works, we usually see a tier list on the strength various characters, where there exists debate on who would defeat who, how far are the strength between two characters, and who is among the strongest and weakest characters in the series. I've seen this with shows like Dragon Ball Z and Naruto, as well as Marvel and DC comics.
I'd like to see if we can make a similar tier list for Pokémon, and see if we can make a good tier list that accurately reflects the strength of the characters and their Pokémon after some good discussion and debate. Who is the strongest trainer in the anime? Who is the weakest? Where would characters like Ash, Gary, Ritchie, May, Paul, Bianca, and Trevor lie? What about Gym Leaders like Brock, Misty, Jasmine, Norman, Clemont, and Korrina? How about villains like Giovanni or Hunter J? How distant is the strength between, say, BW Ash and XY Ash? Is Cynthia, Tobias, Alain, or someone else at the top? Could the TRio be faltering at the bottom? How would a battle between Serena and a one-shot character like Giselle work out? Where does A.J., a one-shot trainer who claims to have won 100 battles in a row, fit in all this?
Since I haven't watched all of the anime, I can only know so much and thus I haven't attempted to make a tier list on my own. I would suggest however that we divide them in classes using letters like S, A, B, C, etc. which may or may not be further divided into classes like A+, A, and A-.
Here are some other few guidelines and factors:
-Assume a neutral field, without obstacles or advantages.
-Whenever possible, go for 6v6 matches; otherwise go with the maximum number possible.
-You can differentiate trainers on both the time they were in as well as their hypothetical strongest, consisting of their best Pokémon. For example, you can place both Kanto Gary and Johto Gary in the tier list.
-Writing absolutely every character down is not necessary (this tier list would simply be too much if we tried that), but it would be nice if we wrote those whom we've seen a significant amount of battling into the list.
-I am unsure if the movies should be factored in; if we do so, I would prefer to make anyone affected by them separate from how they would fare without the movies.
-Preferably I would not add Red from Pokémon Origins into the list, but maybe you can change my mind here.
-Keep in mind about type advantages and disadvantages. If you think, for instance, that Valerie should be placed in a higher tier than Lance, do so because you believe she is legitimately a stronger trainer and would fare better than him against other trainers, not simply because she would defeat him directly thanks to the Fairy-type vs Dragon-type situation.
-The luck factor does exist, so put that into play as well.
If anyone else has questions or suggestions, please let me know. I hope to have a good enjoyable discussion as we make this tier list, so let's get started!